Story+2000-04-18+Houston,+TX

´´(Steve suddenly leaves the stage) It must´ve been the clams !....I told you not to eat the clams !....”
 * 8.04.00 Houston, TX, end of ´Out in the Street´**

´´(sings ‘Take Me to the River’) That´s right....that’s where I wanna go tonight....I wanna go to the river...the river of life....and the river of love....and the river of faith....and the river of hope....and the river of transformation where you can go and you can be changed ....you can change yourself....and the river of resurrection....where everybody gets a second chance ....the river of sexual healing....and companionship...of happiness and of joy....that´s where I wanna go tonight and I want you to go with me....because that´s why I´m here.....because I can´t get there by myself....that´s why we´re here tonight....because we can´t get there by ourselves....and you can try....but in the end you can´t do it....now, tonight I wanna throw us a rock and roll exorcism....I wanna have a rock and roll baptism....it´s gonna chase out them bad things, bring in those good things, come on, devil, I wanna wrestle with you tonight.... now, I found myself as a young man ....standing before a dark grove of trees and just like.... just like a little child, I was frightened to pass through those trees even though I knew that on the other side there was the river of life and cold beer at a reasonable price....but I couldn´t get there for I was paralyzed....and then a gypsy woman sitting amongst the trees called me forward, she said ´Son, Son, what you, what you need, Son, is, is you need some help to get through these trees, what´s your, what´s your line ? tell me what your line is....well, oh, oh, what you need then is you need a band, that´s what you need´...that´s why I´m proud to introduce tonight the dean of the university of musical perversity, the Secretary of intelligence, on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan....standing with me at the riverside, the Minister of faith, of friendship and keeper of all that is righteous on E Street, the star of the ´Sopranos´-television show, Little Steven Van Zandt....standing with me at the riverside, the foundation of the E Street nation, Southern man, on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W.Tallent... standing with me at the riverside....the man that brings the power night after night, the Minister of the mighty beat and star of Late Night Television, the Mighty Max Weinberg .... (?)....standing with me at the riverside, Secretary of heart and spirit, Godfather of the guitar, the great Nils Lofgren.....standing with me at the riverside, the Minister of mystery and keeper of all things unfathomable on E Street, on the Hammond B-3 organ and accordion, Brother Dan Federici....well, now, brunettes are fine and blondes are fun but when it comes to getting a dirty job done, it takes a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I said I got to find myself a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I´m searching for my baby (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I´m looking for my darling (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I got to find my girl now (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I´m creeping, I´m sneaking (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I´m begging, I´m pleading (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I´m often apologising (crowd : ´Red headed woman´)(Patti sings a bit of ´Rumble Doll´) that´s right, the First Lady of love, on guitar and vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa....now last but not least.....last but not least....the Minister of soul, Secretary of the brotherhood.....and if this was a righteous nation, he´d be the next president of the United States....do I have to say his name ?....do I have to say his name ? ...say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ? ....say who ? ....say who ? ....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....”
 * 18.04.00 Houston, TX, middle of ´Tenth Avenue Freeze Out´**

´´Thank you, I wanna do this tonight for my...my great, great friends, Barbara and Dave.... and the sweet memory of Kristen Carr....”
 * 18.04.00 Houston, TX, intro to ´Better Days´**

‘‘Alright, gonna do one now, uh....if I can do it....one I haven’t done in a long time, I remember the first time we came down to Houston....we’d, uh....remember the band had never flown in an airplane until we had a record deal and....then we took a couple of flights and they were pretty turbulent....and so the band all got together and we voted that we would never fly again....but our next show was here in Houston....so we all decided we were gonna take the train....we went to New York, we got on the train and we took the train to New Orleans....it was a very long ride.....and then we took the train to Houston ....it was a very long ride....we stopped, I think, in every town throughout the South.....there were several abusive people on the train....I believe Clarence dispatched one of them.... then the police came at (?) a little whistle-stop and took ‘em away....but uh.....I guess this is all leading up to waiting for my guitar getting tuned..... (?)....anyway, we played, played at a place called Liberty Hall (cheers).....you couldn’t’ve been there, it wasn’t that big !....and uh....this is for any of the folks who remained from way back then .....”
 * 18.04.00 Houston, TX, intro to ´Mary Queen of Arkansas´**

‘‘Houston !....Houston !....but everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve seen people lost in confusion.... I´ve seen people lost in the wilderness....I´ve seen people lost in bitterness ....I´ve seen people lost in loneliness....well, tonight, tonight we´ve we’ve come thousands of miles and we’re here on a search-and-rescue mission, we´re coming to get you, if you´ve been downhearted, disspirited, disgusted, dispossessed, downsized, analyzed, stigmatised, fractionalised, retropsychedelicized, Republicanised....I´m here tonight to re-educate you, to resuscitate you, to regenerate you, to reconfiscate you, to reindoctrinate you, to recombobolate you, to resexualate you, to reliberate you with the power and the glory, with the power and the glory, with the power and the glory, with the majesty, with the mystery... with the ministry of rock and roll !...with the power and the glory, with the power and the glory, with the power and the glory, with the majesty and the mystery, with the ministry of rock and roll !....now, unlike my competitors, I shall not, I will not, I refuse to promise you life everlasting.... but I can promise you life right now !....and all you got to do is raise your hands and say ´I !´.... ”
 * 18.04.00 Houston, TX, middle of ´Light of Day´ **

´´We´ve got one for Texas here y´all....”
 * 18.04.00 Houston, TX, intro to ´Cadillac Ranch´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//